Hundreds of Baloch women marched on the streets of Quetta on Tuesday to mark International Women’s Day, celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point of the women’s rights movement. The day aims to bring attention to the problems plaguing women across the world, such as gender inequality, violence, sexual harassment and reproductive rights.
Tuesday’s demonstration, organized by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, saw hundreds of participants – students, activists, political and social workers, and women from different walks of life.
The theme of the demonstration was “state-sponsored violence against Baloch women.” The participants marched on the roads, carrying placards and banners and chanted slogans. The women demanded the safe release of Mahal Baloch, a Baloch woman who was taken away by Pakistani security forces from Quetta and is still in their custody.
The participants also demanded the safe release of thousands of Baloch missing persons.
Addressing the gathering, the speakers said the Pakistani security forces are inflicting collective punishment on the Baloch women. First, they had our loved ones ‘forcibly disappeared and now they are targeting the Baloch women as well. Public harassment and violence against women are also being systemically normalized, they said. The participants stated that the ‘enforced disappearances’ of our loved ones have forced us to come on the streets.
The marchers said that the ‘enforced disappearance’ of Mahal Baloch points towards a dangerous trend. Mahal Baloch was detained by the security forces from her home in Quetta on allegations of her being a suicide bomber, a charge her family and human rights groups have firmly dismissed.
The demonstrators said that the disappearance of Mahal Baloch proves that the Baloch women are now being targeted. They said that women around the world are demanding agency over their bodies and lives, and access to quality education, healthcare and other facilities of life. The Baloch women, in contrast, are demanding the safe release of their loved ones.
The speakers said the state is responsible for ensuring the safety of women and giving them security and socioeconomic opportunities. Instead, the state is cracking down on the Baloch women. We are too busy demanding an end to ‘state-sponsored’ oppression to demand anything else, they said.